Giscard d'Estaing rejects EU opposition on plans for new leadership

Plans to give the European Union a powerful new "president" and foreign minister looked certain to go ahead last night after Valéry Giscard d'Estaing gave his strongest indication yet that smaller EU states would not be allowed to block the proposals.

The former French president, who is drawing up a new European constitution for the enlarged EU, said "democracy" meant that the majority of its population, rather than a majority of member countries, should determine its shape.

M. Giscard d'Estaing, the chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe, said there was general agreement on the need for a new EU foreign minister to combine responsibilities now shared between Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, and Chris Patten, the external relations commissioner.

But he admitted there was still substantial division between the bigger and smaller states over the proposals to replace the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council with a president serving for a minimum of five years.

The post, which is intended to allow the EU to punch its weight on the international stage, is likely to come into effect in 2006 along with the new constitution and sweeping reductions in the number of commissioners. Tony Blair and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, have already been touted for the job.

But although the idea is backed by the "big five" of Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, it is opposed by nine member states and nine states that will be joining. Many fear it would marginalise them from the main decisions of an enlarged 25-member EU.

All 18 repeated their opposition to the reform yesterday. But M. Giscard d'Estaing, whose 105-member convention has been working on the proposals for more than a year, said: "One thing to take into account is the number of states, but we also have to take into account their populations, because we operate in a democracy here.

"At the moment, there is quite a broad majority of the population represented which is in favour of a somewhat more stable presidency." Two smaller countries, Denmark and Sweden, had also backed the moves, he said.